Thursday, November 27, 2014

It Started With The Cranberry Relish

My mother-in-law makes a really fabulous cranberry relish every Thanksgiving. It has blueberries and oranges and nuts in it and I could eat the whole bowl with a spoon all by itself, never mind putting it on the turkey. She knows that I love it. This year, while we were cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, she told me that she made double the usual amount so that I could take the second batch home with me.

I've been thinking about what to write today for a few days now: there are so many things I'm thankful for, and I really didn't want to just post a laundry list. This many not be something you see often in general, but I've decided that the blessing I'm going to focus on this year is my mother-in-law. I couldn't ask for a better one, and after almost thirteen years of marriage and three kids, that's really saying something.

She's been nothing but kind and thoughtful since the first time I met her, which was before her son and I actually started dating (I think...the chronology there is a little shaky. Certainly before it was public and official.) She voluntarily hosted a bridal shower and a baby shower for me at her home. She doesn't interfere between me and her son or get involved in our parenting decisions at all...the biggest problem I have with her is getting her opinion on something when I actually WANT it, since she tries so hard not to step on my toes! When we need help with the kids, she's there. She has a daughter as well, and she is every bit as loving to me as she is to my sister-in-law...for all that I am married to her only son (the setup for many a horror story) I have been welcomed into the family with open arms.

Marriage takes work, no doubt. Certainly good marriages do. But how many women can truthfully say that their mothers-in-law make their marriages easier instead of harder? Not sure how I got this lucky, but thank God for it. I hope I manage to be half as good to my sons' wives as she is to me!

*****

ETA: For anyone who may be wondering, she has no idea that this blog exists.

About Me

Welcome to the world of Mama D!
A biologist by profession, I'm currently the SAHM of three rambunctious small fry (boys are 12 and 14, girl is 10) and the wife of an attorney with a very good sense of humor, which he often needs around this house. :) An enthusiastic student of taekwondo, I'm also the keeper of the family genealogy records, an avid (some might say insane) geocacher, a school board member and a volunteer for way too many school and community activities. Some days I am overwhelmed by how lucky I am, and some days I'm just overwhelmed!
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